The Southern Sailor Band
Barry Dunn
John Guadalupe
Tom Chidester
Mitch Williams
Uncle Eddie McKean
Five Oklahoma Musicians Covering Songs You Love and Original Songs You'll Want to Hear Again
BREAKING NEWS!!!
We released our second album, "Self-Inflicted Blues" on May 27th!
Our band took its current form just before the pandemic, though Mitch Williams added keyboards in 2021 and Uncle Eddie became our lead guitarist in 2023. Our bassist, Barry Dunn, is the only remaining founding member of the band, which formed in 1982. John Guadalupe (drums) and Tom Chidester (rhythm guitar) joined in 2019. Bill Holiway (lead guitar) left the band in 2020 due to illness and passed away in 2022, but his song “Lily” closes our first album "Chasing Our Demons." All of us have played for over 20 years. All of us contribute vocals. Tom, Barry, and former lead guitarist Matt Granz wrote the first album's original music, with John and Mitch writing their drum and keyboard parts. Matt continues to provide our cover artwork from his business, "Matt Granz Photography."
We all came to music for different reasons. For Tom, “It was finally being out of school at 25 and realizing I had free time to learn the Elvis Costello and Warren Zevon songs I had first heard from Linda Ronstadt. Songwriting came later – I’m just glad to have a voice and experiences interesting enough to write about.” Barry can’t remember a time when he didn’t play music, “It’s just been my life!” For John, “The Beatles! I took drums lessons in grade school and have been playing on and off for many years. Music and motorcycles are my escape from reality!” Mitch grew up playing country gospel from a very young age. He worked 33 years as an engineer while playing in worship and bluegrass bands. Now he flies airplanes during the day, plays music every night, and has written many original songs.
Our new album contains songs written by Tom, Barry, and Mitch, with one co-written with Matt. The first half expresses the joy of the rock, country, and blues music we play together, taking a turn with "Travelogue," a ballad of 20 years of relationships not fulfilled, but ending in hope. From there, it's about our self-inflicted blues, ending in the uncertainty of observing a friend's downward spiral. Hope you enjoy the trip! We have.
We play almost any venue or event! Please reach out to us using the form below or text Tom at (405)923-7914!